1. Glen Barrington

    Glen Barrington Senior Member

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    Style Bad Writing Habits

    Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Glen Barrington, Aug 23, 2019.

    I don't know WHY, but bad writing habits seem FAR more difficult to break than good ones are to abandon.

    One habit I have tried and TRIED to break is the random use of putting a word in ALL CAPS. for emphasis! I'm working on it, but this is a slow process. So please, if you must snicker at my habit, please do so where I can't hear you.

    I mean it's not like I dot my hand written "I"s with smiley faces. (Well, not ALL the time!)
     
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  2. RobinLC

    RobinLC Active Member

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    Eh, no biggie. I have a habit of, using too many commas! < Did that on purpose, I swear. ;)
     
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  3. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Sometimes I have trouble with using the wrong word with a similar spelling
    to the right one. Quite and Quiet for instance. :p
    Some words I don't realize I am capitalizing the first to letters on words that
    start the sentence with T and H, but I usually catch it shortly after the fact.
    After being in a local writing group, I have learned that I need to reign in my
    use of 'as', which was extremely hard to do.
    It helps to have an in-person group that can go over your work as you write it,
    and they can help you to curb the bad habits you have in your writing. And
    it gives you the opportunity to do the same and help others out too. :)
     
  4. Phenomellama

    Phenomellama Member

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    I use too many hyphens and commas.
    When I'm typing a sentence, it is being narrated in my head by a random voice. Therefore, all of those pauses get translated to commas, and...see, I did it right there.
    Comma when there is not supposed to be a comma. ---there is another bad habit: I start writing like Harrison Ford is talking and start sentences incorrectly.
    If I were writing fiction, this might be okay. But I'm writing a damn technical manual. So no-go.
    My text has items where capital letters are optional, and I waffle a lot on capitalizing or not.
    I also worry too much about formatting on a draft copy, but I'm finding that to be a good thing. It makes it easier to copy over to a printable/test distribution version.
     
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  5. Dorafjol

    Dorafjol Member

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    I, also, have a habit of over-using commas, but I just love them too much. Another thing that I do, is that I write "that" way too often, to the point that I'll have to go "that"-hunting during revisions. That in itself is fine and dandy, but coupled with my other nasty habit of revising while I write, it's a real time thief. I feel you when it comes to breaking habits vs sustaining good ones. Change is a curious thing, and it doesn't get easier with age either.
    How do you mean, optional? (That sounds agressive, sorry.) I sometimes capitalize key words in instructions, but nowadays I'm leaning more towards the Zelda route of colour coding. I don't write many instructions, but I'm a keen user of Excel.
     
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  6. Phenomellama

    Phenomellama Member

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    Say I am writing a chapter about character stats, and have Health, Empathy, and Ability as a few available stats. These are now titles to an aspect used by the game. I SHOULD capitalize them, as they are titles, BUT I have seen it both ways, so I am assuming (making an ass of you and me, I know) that it is generally accepted to not capitalize all titles like that.
    That said, I actually do like capitalizing them because it makes them stand out more in a sentence. Since this is used as reference, it is easier for the reader to find the information needed since it stands out.
     
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  7. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    Not finishing things.
    Procrastinating.
    Gloating when I think I did something clever.
    Obsessing over nit-picks and feeling the restless desire for new ideas.
    Having had too many ideas.
    Thinking perhaps too much about future elements I'm not up to.
    Describing things too literally when I actually write.
    Trying too hard to make interesting metaphors and stylistic quirks.
    The unshakeable insecurity other writers are more interesting than me.
    The vain belief my writing is super interesting because I think it is, and I spend a lot of time thinking about it so of course I should know.
    Oh, and sometimes I write too fast and don't spellcheck correctly until later.
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2019
  8. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    So
    many
    semi-colons
    and
    em-dashes
     
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  9. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    I sometimes worry I'm too reliant on commas because I don't use the other similar punctation like semicolons and dashes very often and some people have recommended I use them more.
     
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  10. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I think it started when I realized I could use a keyboard to capture my
    warped strange imaginings.

    Though with lots of chiding from the ladies in group, I have been much
    better at not abusing 'as' so much. :p
     
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  11. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    As any writer must learn to do. Then you can write as smoothly as the flow of the river. And be understood as plainly as numbers. As any writer would be wish to be.
     
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  12. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    It was an issue cause first present tense, and not able to use 'and'. And 'while', was a bad stand in.
     
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  13. badgerjelly

    badgerjelly Contributor Contributor

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    Not writing is the worst habit for a writer.
     
  14. Dorafjol

    Dorafjol Member

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    Oh. Are you making an RPG system? Empathy is an interesting stat, is it kind of a catch-all for social interaction (intimidating and bribing and whatnot)?
    Keen exemplar of doing nothing much here. You have now successfully guilted me into writing. Thanks! :D
     
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  15. Dorafjol

    Dorafjol Member

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    Connection mucked up. Sorry for the double :/
     
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  16. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    I started writing with huge bad habits. No indents on paragraphs, I had no idea how to use a comma - sometimes it still confuses me, and worse - I thought the spelling of their versus there was a regional thing. :rolleyes:
    Right now I'm still trying to figure out semi-colons versus colons. I've decided to use a few in my WIP.
    And I love, love hyphens/dashes and tend to over use them. They're like my go-to magic wand, when in comma-doubt throw in a hyphen.
     
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  17. cosmic lights

    cosmic lights Contributor Contributor

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    I don't know what my bad habits are, other than poor grammar use.
    I tend to mentions the characters name too much, also I tend to write is a list like form.
     
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  18. Rzero

    Rzero Reluctant voice of his generation Contributor

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    I get excited and jump to the next project before I finish the la
    OH! And I incessantly obsessively compulsively edit until I'm almost fairly completely sure I passed the best version a while ago and can't get it back remember what it was retrieve it.
     
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  19. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    This one might not be so bad. It seems to be a stylistic choice.
    One lady in group doesn't indent, but double spaces paragraphs
    instead. Takes a bit of getting used to, but is an acceptable format. :)
     
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  20. aModernHeathen

    aModernHeathen Banned

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    I use semicolons way too often; they just work so well in so many different scenarios. While I don't think I'm really breaking any rules, I think, stylistically, there may be a better punctuation mark to use when the semicolons are getting to be a bit much. I could, of course, just start a new sentence, but I'm stubborn like that. For emphasis, using italics is much more effective than using all caps, in my opinion.
     
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  21. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    I thought that last book was yelling at me for no particular reason. :p
     
  22. aModernHeathen

    aModernHeathen Banned

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    That was only a six. You don't want to see me go to ten.
     
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  23. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Ah, the addition of bold and underlining eh? :p
     
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  24. aModernHeathen

    aModernHeathen Banned

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    Bold and underlined text? Psh. Wait 'til I started changing font size on you. ;)
     
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  25. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    FIVE MILLION EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     

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